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<td class="pageTitle" nowrap="true">Concept: Project Lifecycle</td><td width="100%">
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<td valign="top">The project lifecycle provides stakeholders and team members with visibility, synchronization points, and decision points throughout the project, thereby enabling oversight and go or no-go decisions at appropriate times.</td>
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<div class="sectionHeading">Relationships</div>
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<th class="sectionTableHeading" scope="row">Related Elements</th><td class="sectionTableCell">
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<li>
<a href="./../../../practice.mgmt.risk_value_lifecycle.base/guidances/concepts/construction_phase_873B6559.html" guid="_48EKsBOMEduCNqgZdt_OaA">Construction Phase</a>
</li>
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<a href="./../../../practice.mgmt.risk_value_lifecycle.base/guidances/concepts/elaboration_phase_BE880435.html" guid="_2plxwBOMEduCNqgZdt_OaA">Elaboration Phase</a>
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<a href="./../../../practice.mgmt.risk_value_lifecycle.base/guidances/concepts/inception_phase_C4456871.html" guid="_0hmKgBOMEduCNqgZdt_OaA">Inception Phase</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="./../../../publish.openup.base/guidances/supportingmaterials/introduction_to_openup_EFA29EF3.html" guid="_sOaNACatEd21TMX858E1gw">Introduction to OpenUP</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="./../../../practice.mgmt.risk_value_lifecycle.base/guidances/concepts/transition_phase_DD5986E5.html" guid="__ca5UBOMEduCNqgZdt_OaA">Transition Phase</a>
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<div class="sectionHeading">Main Description</div>
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<td class="sectionTableSingleCell"><p>
    Although the entire purpose of a project is to produce a product, the specific goals of the team will vary
    substantially throughout the project. In the beginning, there usually is considerable latitude in the requirements for
    the product. It may not be clear whether the project is feasible or even if it is likely to be profitable. At that
    time, it is critical to bring an answer to these questions and of little to no value to start developing the product in
    earnest.&nbsp;Toward the end of the project, the product itself is usually complete, and issues of quality, delivery,
    and completeness then take center stage. At different points in time, tasks are undertaken in new ways and work
    products will have new content.
</p>
<p>
    To coordinate the team's efforts in a manner that takes these fundamental observations into account, the project
    lifecycle should be divided into a sequence of phases. Each phase has a defined set of goals, a particular iteration
    style, and customized&nbsp; <a class="elementLinkWithUserText" href="./../../../core.default.uma_concept.base/guidances/termdefinitions/task_6C1FF051.html" guid="_x459ktnmEdmO6L4XMImrsA">tasks</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="elementLinkWithUserText" href="./../../../core.default.uma_concept.base/guidances/termdefinitions/work_product_826E4C22.html" guid="_H4JXwB_SEdq6CKKKq4D7YA">work products</a> to address the unique needs of the project at that point. The project
    lifecycle provides <em>stakeholders</em> with oversight, transparency, and steering mechanisms to control project
    funding, scope, risk exposure, value provided, and other aspects of the process.
</p>
<p>
    It helps to organize iterations into phases. Each phase ends with a milestone aimed at providing oversight by raising
    and answering a set of questions that are typically critical to stakeholders:
</p>
<ul>
    <li>
        <a class="elementLinkWithUserText" href="./../../../practice.mgmt.risk_value_lifecycle.base/guidances/concepts/inception_phase_C4456871.html" guid="_0hmKgBOMEduCNqgZdt_OaA">Inception</a>. Do we agree on project scope and objectives and whether or not the
        project should proceed?
    </li>
    <li>
        <a class="elementLinkWithUserText" href="./../../../practice.mgmt.risk_value_lifecycle.base/guidances/concepts/elaboration_phase_BE880435.html" guid="_2plxwBOMEduCNqgZdt_OaA">Elaboration</a>. Do we agree on the executable architecture to be used for
        developing the application, and do we find that the value delivered so far and the remaining risk is acceptable?
    </li>
    <li>
        <a class="elementLinkWithUserText" href="./../../../practice.mgmt.risk_value_lifecycle.base/guidances/concepts/construction_phase_873B6559.html" guid="_48EKsBOMEduCNqgZdt_OaA">Construction</a>. Do we find that we have an application that is sufficiently close
        to being released that we should switch the primary focus of the team to tuning, polishing, and ensuring successful
        deployment?
    </li>
    <li>
        <a class="elementLinkWithUserText" href="./../../../practice.mgmt.risk_value_lifecycle.base/guidances/concepts/transition_phase_DD5986E5.html" guid="__ca5UBOMEduCNqgZdt_OaA">Transition</a>. Is the application ready to release?
    </li>
</ul>
<p>
    If the answer is Yes to those questions at the phase review, the project continues. If the answer is No, the phase is
    delayed (usually by adding an extra iteration) until a satisfactory answer is received, or the stakeholders may
    determine that the project should be cancelled.
</p>
<p>
    Within each phase, you might have one or several iterations, where the iterations aim at producing the results required
    to answer these questions. As an example, to answer the question for Elaboration, we typically need to implement and
    test key aspects of the system so that we understand what architecture we need, what commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS)
    components we may need, what key risks we face and how to address them, the effectiveness of the team, and so on. These
    needs will steer how we prioritize what is to be done in an Elaboration iteration.
</p>
<p>
    One of the objectives of the project lifecycle is to focus on two key stakeholder drivers: <b>risk reduction</b> and
    <b>value creation</b>. As figure 1 shows, the&nbsp;four phases here described focus the team on risk reduction related
    to the questions to be answered at the end of the phase, while tracking value creation.
</p>
<p>
    <img height="268" alt="Risk goes down and vlaue goes up as project progresses." src="./../../../practice.mgmt.risk_value_lifecycle.base/guidances/concepts/./resources/project_lifecycle.jpg"     width="500" />&nbsp;
</p>
<p>
    <strong>Figure 1 - Risk reduction (red curve) and value creation (green curve) during the project lifecycle</strong>
</p>
<p dir="ltr">
    <i>Risk</i> is a manifestation of the likelihood of unexpected things happening to the project, and risk stands in the
    way of value creation. Risk is directly proportional to uncertainty in estimates, and stakeholders typically want to
    know sooner rather than later what value the project can deliver in the stipulated time. In many cases, you reduce risk
    when you create value by implementing and testing the most critical capabilities. However, there are situations where
    risk reduction and immediate value creation are at odds with each other, requiring careful balancing of these competing
    priorities to maximize stakeholder value.
</p><p/>See <a class="elementLink" href="./../../../publish.openup.base/guidances/concepts/core_principle_balance_793DD27.html" guid="_ssG6MMvpEdqukPpotm3DYg">Balance competing priorities to maximize stakeholder value</a>.</td>
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<div class="sectionHeading">More Information</div>
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<th class="sectionTableHeading" scope="row">Concepts</th><td class="sectionTableCell">
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<li>
<a href="./../../../practice.mgmt.risk_value_lifecycle.base/guidances/concepts/construction_phase_873B6559.html" guid="_48EKsBOMEduCNqgZdt_OaA">Construction Phase</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="./../../../practice.mgmt.risk_value_lifecycle.base/guidances/concepts/elaboration_phase_BE880435.html" guid="_2plxwBOMEduCNqgZdt_OaA">Elaboration Phase</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="./../../../practice.mgmt.risk_value_lifecycle.base/guidances/concepts/inception_phase_C4456871.html" guid="_0hmKgBOMEduCNqgZdt_OaA">Inception Phase</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="./../../../core.mgmt.common.extend_supp/guidances/concepts/risk_AF5840DA.html" guid="_0bsLgMlgEdmt3adZL5Dmdw">Risk</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="./../../../practice.mgmt.risk_value_lifecycle.base/guidances/concepts/transition_phase_DD5986E5.html" guid="__ca5UBOMEduCNqgZdt_OaA">Transition Phase</a>
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<td class="copyright"><p> This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the<br />
  <a href="http://www.eclipse.org/org/documents/epl-v10.php" target="_blank">Eclipse 
  Public License V1.0</a>, which accompanies this distribution. </p><p/><p> <a class="elementLink" href="./../../../core.default.release_copyright.base/guidances/supportingmaterials/openup_copyright_C3031062.html" guid="_UaGfECcTEduSX6N2jUafGA">OpenUP Copyright</a></p></td>
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